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Maria Renard
'''Maria Renard (ja. マリア･ラーネッド Maria Learned) is a heroine from Konami's Castlevania series. She appears as a playable character in Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood and Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (the Sega Saturn port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) and all three games in the Dracula X Chronicles. She also appears as a non-playable character in Castlevania: Dracula X and the aforementioned Symphony of the Night. Character history Before Castlevania: Rondo of Blood Maria was born in 1780 to aristocraticJudgment profile, also hinted by Maria's clothes in Dracula X Chronicles parents of the Renard Clan, which had distant blood ties to the Belmont clan Though the US PSX version Symphony of the Night's profile indicates that she had no relation to the Belmonts, the original Rondo of Blood Japanese manual indicated that she did have ties to the Belmonts. This was reasserted in the English Dracula X Chronicles and Judgment. and were known to keep doves as pets for protectionDescription for "doves" in Order of Shadows implies this. It is not clear if Maria was aware of her warrior heritage, but she was born with powerful magical potential, and was very brave for a small girl. Events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood In 1792, the dark priest Shaft raided her village for women to offer as sacrifices to increase his lord Dracula's strength. Maria's parents were killed in the raid and she was taken off with three other villagers, Iris, a doctor's daughter, Tera, a nun, and AnnetteThese details are different in the 2D Rondo of Blood game in DXC, in which Maria had already appears to have had her powers before she was captured, and had set out to fight bad guys, but "got caught", the fiance of this current generation's Belmont warrior, Richter. It was under these circumstances that Maria first met AnnetteWhile they are sisters in Dracula X and the original English translation of Symphony of the Night for the Playstation, this is not considered canon and Dracula X Chronicles implies that they were strangers, and they were initially brought to the Castle together. Having lost her parents, Maria and Annette formed a bond in captivity and Maria would start referring to Annette as her "big sister"Rondo of Blood. Annette told her about Richter and how powerful he was and that she was sure that he would save them. Shaft noticed that Maria had a hidden power inside of her and determined that it would be best used to serve Lord Dracula. He separated Maria from Annette and brought her to a hidden ceremony room. There he cast a spell on her, which brought that power forward, but he was interrupted by Richter Belmont, who was able to find them. Shaft fled without a fight and Maria awoke to find Richter, as brave and as powerful as Annette had said that he was. Richter was happy that she was okay and asked her to go home to her parents, but she said that since they were now in heaven she had no where else to go and would follow Richter. She had a strong desire to save Annette and the other villagers and stop the "bad man" who had captured them. When she became a little irritated by Richter's pleas for her for safety, she inadvertently summoned a dragon for the first time, which caught Richter off guard. It was now evident that she was no longer a helpless girl, but had the power, will, and stubbornness to survive in the castle. Richter felt that he had no choice but to allow her to help him. Maria used newly awoken powers to gain dominion over animals as well as the four Celestial Beasts to protect her on her quest. Maria and Richter split up in order to search for the missing village women. The women who Maria was able to save were very surprised, and maybe a little disappointed, to be saved by a young girl instead of a strong young man, but then very grateful. Throughout her ordeal and despite her loss, Maria remained cheerfuly optimistic and confident in her abilities and her animal friends' help. They were eventually able to save all of the village women and Shaft was defeated. During the final confrontation with Dracula, it is possible that Maria aided Richter by channeling all of her power to cast a powerful protection spell on himThis is what happens in the prologue of Symphony of the Night if Richter loses all of his health. It is possible that this really happened storywise to some degree, though he was probably not made invulnerable indefinitely as in the gameplay.. Events of Castlevania: Judgment After Dracula was defeated, Maria was adopted into the Belmont householdJudgment profile. She looked up to Richter as an older brother. At some point, Maria had a new pet barn owl named Osca which would take the place of her doves. Maria would have a hard time being a young kid growing up around well endowed mature village women such as those she helped rescue and she became dissatisfied with her own lack of development. According to Castlevania: Judgment, at the age of 15, Maria sensed a strange unease among her animal friends. Beneath the light of a full moon, she ventured out into a dark forest seeking answers. She had entered a time rift and was greeted by a strange man who introduced himself as Aeon. He explained that this realm was a place where she would find what she desired, but that there would be trials for her to pass. She was delighted at the prospect of receiving a present, so she gladly accepted the trials. Perhaps this could cure her self-image problems? She would fight several warriors from other time periods, including Shanoa, who made the mistake of referring to her as a little girl, Sypha, who didn't seem to appreciate the two "sacred gifts" that she had been endowed with, and Carmilla, who was a vampire who naturally had to be destroyed, but who was also irritatingly "bigger" than her. When she returned from the time rift, time would bring her what she desired. However, she soon found that her faith in appearances would fade like a dream. Events of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night A year after her time traveling incident, Richter vanished under the light of a full moonSymphony of the Night. Maria immediately set out to find her guardian and friend with no idea of where to start. After a year of searching, in 1797, Dracula's Castle reappeared as if to show her the way. While she set out to Dracula's Castle once again, unbeknown to her, Alucard, the son of Dracula who had put himself under an eternal sleep after defeating his father with Richter's ancestor Trevor Belmont 300 years earlier, was mysteriously awoken from his slumber. Alucard also set out to the Castle with the intent of destroying the castle and preventing Dracula's revival. Maria and Alucard would meet several times while pursuing their separate goals. Maria was surprised to find another "human" in the Castle, but when Alucard introduced himself at her request and explained what his goal was, she decided to trust him and they went their separate ways. Maria had trouble getting around the Castle after that as its very form seemed different than the last time she was there. When she met up with Alucard again, she asked him about it, and he explained that the Castle was a creature of chaos and that it can take many forms. With this in mind, she continued her search. She later witnessed a battle between Alucard and a Hippogryph and was very impressed by the strength he had shown during the battle. She decided to ask Alucard to help her find Richter, or at least let her know if he ran across him. Alucard agreed, but she did not like what he had to say about him once he did encounter him. He had told her that he was in league with Dracula and claimed to be the lord of this castle. Maria was relieved that Richter was indeed in the castle, but couldn't believe what Alucard had said about him, so she left in a hurry to find out for herself. She eventually found out that what Alucard was saying was the truth, but she knew that he was being controlled somehow. She was not confident in her own ability to face and defeat Richter however, and she decided to test Alucard's strength to determine if he was up to the taskThis only occurred in the Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night. In the Playstation version, she was already convinced that Alucard was up to the task. In the Saturn version, she may have fought Alucard in order to prevent him from harming Richter (could someone confirm this?). Alucard was able to defeat her and she entrusted saving Richter to him. She pleaded for him not to harm Richter, but they agreed that he must be stopped, so she gave him the Holy Glasses to enable him to see through evil illusions. Alucard faced off against Richter in the Castle Keep, but was now able to see the mysterious orbs that allowed Shaft to control Richter, and in the middle of their battle, he destroyed those orbs, thus releasing Richter from his spell. While Alucard chased Shaft into an inverted Castle in order to prevent his resurrection of Dracula, Maria helped the wounded Richter escape from the castle. They went to a ridge a safe distance from the castle and waited for Alucard to finish his task. As they watched the Castle crumble in the aftermath of Alucard's victory, Alucard met up with them at that ridge in order to bid them farewell. He told them that his blood was cursed and that the world would be better off to be rid of him, and he departed to return to his deep slumber. This was unacceptable to Maria, who had developed a strong attraction to Alucard and couldn't imagine him not being a part of her life. After Richter assured her that it was okay, she set out to convince him to stayThis is the best ending if the player completes 100% of the map. If not, Maria resigns Alucard to his fate, believing that she would not be able to soothe his tormented soul. Events of Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection Maria succeeded in convincing Alucard to stay, but he remained distant from her at the same timeNocturned of Recollection radio drama. Details in this paragraph are based on general descriptions of what happened in the drama as posted at the Castlevania Dunegon forum at http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/forums/index.php?topic=1450.0, along with some conjecture based on those descriptions, which may turn out to be false and kept his true feelings for her hidden unless she was ever in danger. Maria knew that it would be difficult for Alucard's tormented soul to heal after killing his own fatherGood (but not best) ending in Symphony of the Night, and she would try her best to cheer him up. She openly showed her affection for him, but it was hard for Richter to watch Alucard seeming cold towards her. It is possible that Maria was living with Alucard in a house in the woods outside of town. About a year after the events of Symphony of the Night, Maria went into town with the intent of buying some food for Alucard, shortly after getting upset at him for not talking to her about anything and he and his imp had insulted her cooking. There, she found a letter from Richter that said that several young village women were attacked by a vampire and that he feared that it was Alucard. On her way back, she ran across two men, Silyl and Alexis, who claimed to be vampire hunters entrusted with guarding the town and tell her that it is not safe and to go home. She then runs into a vain incubus named Magnus who explains what he is and tells her with glee that Alucard is evil. She does not believe him and the two fight. However, Maria's birds have no effect on Magnus and she is trapped by him, but is later able to escape. She heads back to Alucard's home and confronts him on what Magnus had said. Alucard said some things that seemed to confirm what he said and she is grief stricken and storms out. After a while, she starts looking for Alucard, but runs into Silyl and Alexis again, who want to give her some medicine (which they had perhaps acquired from Magnus), but which Maria recognizes is dangerous. The vial drops to the ground and Maria is enveloped in a fog from where she cannot sense anything. She is found by Richter and taken back home, where she recovers. Events transpire so that Alucard, Richter, Silyl, Alexis, and Maria fight against Magnus and the vampire Lyudmil, who used to be a servant of Alucard but who may still hold a grudge against humans for the death of Lisa and may have been manipulated by Magnus (he also may have been the one who had attacked the village women instead of Alucard). Magnus, Lyudmil, and Silyl are killed in the battles, and Alucard is exonerated. After Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection It is possible that Maria's story will be further told in the upcoming PS3 / XBox 360 game. It is speculated by many fans that Maria and Alucard would have children that would bear the last name of Lecarde. Regardless of whether she was their ancestor, stories of Maria's exploits were passed down through the Lecarde family and she became famous for having a power that rivaled that of a BelmontCastlevania: Judgment. When Eric Lecarde entered the timerift, he was amazed to be in Maria's presence. At some point, the Belmonts vanish completely. It is possible that long after Maria passes away, that the Vampire Killer whip maintained a memory of her as it did with Richter Belmont, the last Belmont to use the whip before their return in the late 20th centuryMaria is a playable character in Portrait of Ruin, which does not have any relevance to its story, but is grounds for speculation.. Appearances Appearance in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood After being rescued by Richter, Maria can be selected as a playable character when continuing the game. Her primary weapon are Doves and her subweapons include a Cat, Turtle, Cardinals, Egg, Dragon, Book of Music, and a Key. Each of the subweapons has an Item Crash associated with it that consume extra hearts and are more powerful. Appearance in Dracula X Maria appears in this game as a girl who needs to be rescued, but is not playable in the game. When saved, she simply tells Richter that her sister is somewhere else in the castle. If Richter saves both Maria and Annette and defeats Dracula, Maria appears in the end credits, where she has an embarrassed and shocked expression on her face while Richter and sister embrace each other. Appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Maria is not playable in the original Playstation version of Symphony of the Night, nor a boss. She is shown in artwork as having an owl on her shoulder, which seems to have replaced her doves, and would be shown in action in later versions of the game. Appearance in Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (Saturn Edition) Maria is a playable character selectable from the start of the game of the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. Her fighting style has changed drastically in this game as she does not use animal summons as subweapons. Her main attacks consist of kicking and punching. She is able to perform energy blasts to strike things in the distance. She is able to equip and use the same subweapons that Richter is able to use, except that she cannot perform their item crashes. She has a magic meter like Alucard and can perform spells granted from the spiritual energy from the animals that appear in Rondo of Blood. Appearance in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Maria has no mention in the story of Portrait of Ruin, but is able to play along side Richter Belmont. She maintains most of her animal subweapons that appeared in Rondo of Blood, including the Cat, Turtle, Cardinal, and Dragon and is able to select them at will. Her primary weapon are her doves again, but she is able to send them out very rapidly in this game. She is not able to perform item crashes in this game. Appearance in Dracula X Chronicles Maria is playable in the 3D remake of Rondo of Blood that is included in Dracula X Chronicles. Her moves and abilities are essentially the same as they appeared in the original. Appearance in Dracula X Chronicles: Symphony of the Night A new version of Maria is playable in the Symphony of the Night game that was included in Dracula X Chronicles. She now uses some of her traditional animal sub-weapons again and is able to switch back and forth between two of them. The animals that she can use are the same as those she could use in Portrait of Ruin, namely, the Cat, Dragon, Cardinals, and Turtle. This time around, she can item crash these animals. She also has a doll subweapon that normally does nothing, but can be item crashed. Her primary attack doves have been replaced with Owls. Appearance in Castlevania: Judgment A 15-year old version of Maria is a playable character of the 3D wii fighting game Castlevania Judgment, which is her first outing in a free roaming 3D game. Her primary weapon is a pole containing a caged owl, reminiscent of the ones she used in the Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night. She can use an attack bird as a subweapon or, like every other character in the game, use any of the traditional subweapons. The owl allows her some degree of flight in the game. When ever Maria hits someone with the bird cage, small cartoonish figures appear temporarily. Her finisher has her using the caged owl to divebomb people. Judgment Quotes * Short description: A girl with mastery over animals * "I may be cute as a button, but I'm tough as nails." * During most powerful attack: "Come on, everybody! I need your help!" Trivia Name origin: *Maria's Japanese surname was borrowed from the Learned Memorial Library, a building on the Doshisha University campus in Kyoto, Japan. The building was named after Dwight Whitney Learned (1848-1943), the first president of the University. *Maria's English surname is the French word for "fox." Voice actors: *Yoko Teppotsuka in Rondo of Blood. *Chisa Yokoyama in Nocturne in the Moonlight. *Kimberly Forsythe in Symphony of the Night. *Michelle Ruff in Dracula X Chronicles. Blood Type: *Maria's blood type is AB. Castlevania: Judgment *Maria's theme in Judgement is "Slash". Appearance Gallery See Maria Gallery and Maria Artwork category for more images Image:Rob-offart4.jpg|Maria from Rondo of Blood (1993) Image:Maria Peke.JPG|Maria from Akumajyo Dracula Peke (1993) Image:DX_Jap_Manual_Maria.JPG‎|Maria from Dracula X (1995) Image:Mariarenard.jpg|Maria from Symphony of the Night (1997) Image:Maria Reaches Castle.JPG|Maria from SotN Artbook Manga (1997) Image:Por pic 30.jpg|Maria from Portrait of Ruin (2006) Image:young Maria Renard.jpg|Maria from Dracula X Chronicles (2007) Image:Img chara maria.jpg|Maria from Nocturne of Recollection Audio Drama (2008) Image:young Maria Renard-2.jpg|Maria from Castlevania: Judgement (2008) Image:Maria in The Medal.JPG|Maria in The Medal slot machine (2008) See Also * * Maria Renard in Fan Fiction External links *[http://www.quebecgamers.com/impressions/chi_no_rondo/video/maria.wmv Playing as Maria in Rondo of Blood] from Quebec Gamers. (3.7 MB) *[http://www.quebecgamers.com/impressions/dracula_x/videos/maria.wmv Playing as Maria in Nocturne in the Moonlight] from Quebec Gamers. (9.1 MB) *[http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/Games/rondomanual.html Japanese Rondo of Blood manual] translated at the Castlevania Dungeon. References Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Renard, Maria Category:Nocturne of Recollection Characters Category:The Medal Characters Category:Villager Category:Renard Clan Category:Bosses